Santa, I'm right here...
by Aurican Heart
Summary: Songfiction. Heero and Duo are shopping for Christmas presents when they come upon an unfortunate family on the streets. A memory from Duo's past compells him to help them out. Shonen-ai: 1 x 2


Authors note: Be warned, this has a bit a romance in it, for those who hate   
romantic fics *coughs and it sounds suspiciously like the name "Michelle"   
before she grins teasingly* and also this is a shonen ai/yaoi fiction, so if ya   
don't like yaoi/shonen ai hit the back button. Given that most of my fics are   
yaoi/yuri you might want to KEEP hitting the back button till your off of my   
page ^^. I gave ya warnings, so if ya flame me I'll sit and laugh at your   
stupidity, then post it on my page so everyone else can laugh too! =PP (yes   
I'm a mean author at times.) This is a Gundam Wing 1x2,2x1 fic (in other words   
a Duo x Heero fic. Not an orgy of one on two people like some people *cough*   
Jaenet *cough* think. *Ember snickers* ANYHOW!) and a smidgen of 3x4 (or Trowa   
x Quatre).  
  
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gundam wing, it belongs to its respective owners (whom   
I can't recall at the moment. Too cold. my brains only warm enough to type   
and hope it comes out ok. The rest is frozen). Neither does the song "Santa I'm   
right here". It belongs to Toby Keith (Who's songs and singing I adore, as you   
can probably tell since this is my second songfic with one of his songs.) If   
you want a pretty good feel to this fic then listen to this song while reading   
^^.  
  
- indicate lyrics.  
::- indicate thoughts  
(But you already knew this, right?)  
  
And on with the fic!!  
- Falconsong k'Vala (aka Aurican K. Heart)  
-http://www.geocities.com/auricankh  
-taikikou@knight-sabers.com  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Santa, I'm right here  
  
  
I was downtown Christmas shopping  
Such a busy city street  
  
Duo Maxwell frowned and pulled his long black trench coat around him, belting   
the undone belt. It was immensely cold out but he still needed to get Wufei,   
Quatre and Trowa's gifts for Christmas. It wasn't really a holiday the Gundam   
boys celebrated but it was one of his and he was gonna drag them into it. A   
small smile crept onto his face as he recalled the look on their faces when he   
told them he was dragging them all to his place in Old America* for Christmas.   
Wufei promptly declared "no", Trowa just blinked his eye, Heero just kept   
quiet since he knew how much this holiday meant to his koi, and Quatre was the   
one to make them all say yes and decide to have a good time, tho reluctantly.   
Heero sidled up next to Duo, not looking cold at all, tho at the moment   
he wasn't wearing spandex, much to Duo's delight and dismay. He wore a coat   
similar to Duo's black trench, though smaller and looked hardly enough to keep   
the biting cold of December out. He smiled to his koi, half in love and half   
in a "forgive me" look for dragging him out in the cold to go gift hunting.   
Heero gave a flicker of a smile in return before starting to walk again toward   
another row of old stores.   
  
I don't know how I noticed the piece of paper at my feet  
But somethin' made me pick it up, instead of goin' on my way  
  
Duo was about to follow but for some reason he felt compelled to stop   
and look down as yet another piece of trash blew across his feet in the old   
street. He frowned and picked it up, not knowing why he even bothered. Not   
like there was a trash can within a mile of here to throw it away in anyhow.   
It would have looked new save for a wet spot across the folded square of paper,   
probably from blowing across the snow in the street or the puddles left by the   
melting snow. One word was scrawled across the front of it in a child's   
handwriting, blurred by the water that clung to the yellowed paper.   
"Santa".  
  
I stopped and froze right in my tracks  
As I read what it had to say  
  
Duo froze as he opened it and read the letter, unaware that Heero had   
come up next to him. When Heero had noticed that the braided haired boy wasn't   
following he had come back for him and was now reading the letter with him.   
The letter tore into Duo's heart as he read it. It said:   
"Dear Santa, if you can't find me we're livin' out here on the street,   
but I'll be watchin' for you. You're not gonna forget me, are you? My Daddy   
says he knows you'll try, but we might be too hard to find this year... Santa   
I'm right here. We don't have our house no more, I wish we could go home. My   
Mama says we will some day and she prays it won't be long. But some people   
closed daddy's factory and took most of our things. Now Santa, I don't need to   
much, so this year could you bring: Bring my mom a coat that's warm, 'cause   
the one she's got is awful torn. Do you think Dad could help you work, makin'   
toys for boys and girls? Santa I'm right here.   
Love, Jimmy."  
  
"Oh Santa, if you can't find me  
We're livin' out here on the street  
  
The words of the letter struck Duo like a hammer. He folded the letter   
carefully. Heero looked at him worriedly for Duo's eyes had gone as cold and   
dark as the air around them. He knew that look. That was the look Duo had   
whenever he was remembering something particularity dark or sad that still   
haunted and pained him.   
"Duo?" Heero said quietly, tone worrisome.  
"I wrote a letter just like this one, He-chan..." the soft voice   
replied. "I had asked Santa for gifts for Father Maxwell and Sister Helen and   
for my friends... I lost my belief in Santa that year because no Santa answered   
my letter..."  
Heero could tell Duo wanted to cry for his blue eyes wavered slightly.   
Heero knew of his past. Knew he was an orphan and was adopted by the Maxwell   
Church, which was later destroyed in the war, causing Duo to become a Gundam   
pilot. Heero couldn't think of anything to say to him. Although they have   
been together for a year or so now, Heero hadn't changed too noticeably from   
the "perfect soldier" he had been and because of that he didn't know how to   
handle the emotional Shinigami sometimes.  
  
But I'll be watchin' for you, you're not gonna forget me, are you?  
  
But this time he didn't have to say anything. They saw a ragged and   
gaunt looking man in tattered clothes walking toward them, throwing a piece of   
paper onto the street as he walked. He looked fairly young under the weather   
beaten face that needed a shave and a wash badly. His clothes looked hardly   
sufficient to keep him warm in the cold, his jacket old and thin with a logo of   
a local factory on the back that had recently closed.   
Heero noticed that the piece of paper the man had thrown onto the ground   
for lack of a trash can was a help wanted paper, torn from the local newspaper.  
  
Daddy says he knows you'll try  
But we might be too hard to find this year  
  
Duo and Heero watched the man walk past, hunched over and slightly   
shivering, to a group of two people sitting on the curb that they had past   
without a thought earlier. The man shook his head at the woman and child and   
Duo and Heero saw their faces droop further. The woman looked as bad as the   
man, thin, hair tattered, dirty, with the remains of an old coat that had been   
torn in many places and looked as if it wasn't any help against the cold. The   
boy was about seven and looked the worse for wear, his black hair mussed and   
dirty, grime under his nails that, unlike most little boys his age, wasn't from   
playing in sandboxes or with toys.   
  
Oh Santa, I'm right here"  
  
As they began to walk off Duo cast a look at Heero who nodded in response. He   
understood. That was the boys letter. They kept a reasonable distance as they   
followed the family to a local groceries store. Only the family didn't go   
into the store. They went around the back of the store, where next to the   
corner of the wall near the trash bin, there was a cardboard lean-to, what   
would have been called a "Hoover-ville" had this been the days before the war.   
Duo and Heero hid next to the stores outside vending machine. Duo let out a   
small, pained moan as he watched the family go into the lean-to and settle down   
for the cold night ahead.  
  
It said, "we don't have our house no more, I wish we could go home  
Mama says we will some day and she prays it won't be long  
  
"I gotta do something..." Duo said vehemently as he left his hiding   
place, kicking up rifts of snow as he went.  
"Demo, your organization only helps orphans... Not homeless   
families..." Heero said. Duo had opened up a home for homeless orphans to   
live at and be adopted. It was called, ironically enough, Maxwell's House.   
Heero helped out there a lot of times, though some of the children claimed that   
Heero's face scared them. Duo wondered sometimes if Heero knew the children   
were only joking...  
"I KNOW but I can't just leave them there..." Duo clutched the letter   
then looked up at Heero. Heero backed up a step at the fierce determination   
there as a smile crept across Duo's handsome face. "I'm going to play Santa   
for this one time... I don't have to be Shinigami this Christmas."  
Heero blinked as Duo handed him the letter. "Buy the kid some toys,   
and a good warm coat for his mother." Duo said before kissing his cheek and   
starting to run off in the opposite direction.  
"DEMO- What about the father?!" Heero yelled after the young boy, who   
was rapidly growing smaller in the distance.  
"I'll take care of the dad!" was all he got for an answer before Duo   
dissapeared.  
  
But they closed daddy's factory and took most of our things  
Now Santa, I don't need to much, so this year could you bring  
  
Heero sighed. What the heck was he supposed to get a kid for   
Christmas? He hadn't a clue. He walked through the department store isles,   
looking at all the toys with a glare as if to make one of them come forward and   
answer his question. None of the toys moved an inch. ::Well... at least I   
got the warmest coat I could find for the mother...:: he thought. He had also   
picked up one for the father and son as an after thought. He hoped they fit.  
  
Bring my mom a coat that's warm, 'cause the one she's got is awful torn  
  
Duo rubbed his temples where a headache had begun to throb. He paid   
the first months rent at a small apartment downtown, near the university. A   
college student just graduated and luck was on his side so he was able to grab   
it before anyone else did. He had also gone and talked to one of his contacts   
who helped Duo with children from "Maxwell's House". His contact was an aging   
man who ran a toy company and frequently hired the older children from Duo's   
orphanage who didn't get adopted and wanted to work. The children always gave   
a portion out of their earnings to Duo for his orphanage even though they   
weren't required to. The contact always agreed to take anyone Duo had and   
told Duo he did have a position open for someone since the girl who had worked   
there had quit for a higher level job in the company and agreed to hire anyone   
Duo had. When Duo told him that the person was not a child from his orphanage   
this time but a man who badly needed help, the old man was glad to help.   
Now all he had to do was see if Heero had done what he asked, tho he   
had no doubts about his love. He knew Heero would come through...  
  
Maybe dad could help you work, makin' toys for boys and girls  
  
The storeowner smiled at the two young boys. He had tried to help the   
homeless family out behind his store as much as he could but there was scant   
little he could do for them. He was pleased with these two young boys plan and   
took the piece of paper with the address on it from them with a genuine   
smile. "You two have to be angels," he said before he walked off and headed   
outside. He missed seeing Heero's slight blush at being called an angel and   
Duo's helpless laughter at Heero's face before he kissed him soundly. ::After   
all,:: he thought. ::Heero is my angel.::  
  
Oh Santa, if you can't find me  
We're livin' out here on the street  
  
The store owner put on a face of sadness and pity as he told the family   
they had to leave. Told them that the city would close his store because   
burning wood in a cardboard lean-to was against regulations and caused a   
hazard. The fire was all the excuse the storeowner had needed to evict them   
and he had jumped at it.   
"I'll give ya until Christmas eve, tomorrow, to be out and find   
someplace else or I'll have to have ya arrested. I'm sorry but I cant have my   
store shut down." he said, attempting to keep his face from doing one of two   
things, laughing or crying. Laughing out loud for he knew what would happen to   
them since he was told Duo and Heero's plans and crying at the utter desolation   
and hopelessness on their faces. The mother looked as if she wanted to cry but   
was holding out for the sake of her son and putting up a strong facade. "I'm   
sorry..." he said with sympathy that was only half feigned.  
"It's not your fault" the father said, looking down at the cold hard   
pavement of the back parking lot. "We understand... we will be on our way   
tonight so as not to trouble you further..." The gaunt man started to walk   
off, arm around his wife, slouched in sorrow so deep the storeowner could not   
even begin to guess.  
"WAIT!" the storeowner called after them. He ran to them and the   
father turned to look at him curiously. ::What more could the man do to us?::   
he thought. But instead, the storeowner handed him a slip of paper. "Here.   
Go here. Someone at that address will be able to help you, hopefully."   
And then he left, turned before the family could see the smile and joy   
on his face. He silently blessed the two young men who gave him the paper with   
the address. ::Yes, Christmas angels do exist... and i just met two of them.::   
the storeowner thought as he went back into the warmth of his store, smoothing   
down the front of his apron in a habitual, unconscious motion.  
  
But I'll be watchin' for you, you're not gonna forget me, are you  
Daddy says he knows you'll try  
  
The homeless family's father sighed as he stood in the snow barefoot,   
looking up at the apartment complex. The landlady had told him the apartment   
number 1102 was in the third apartment building on the second story. She had   
given a disapproving look to him and his haggard looks. He had wondered if   
he would be thrown out because of the "no shirt, no shoes, no service policy"   
most places enforced. She hadn't. He walked in to the appatment building and   
took the elevator up to the second story then started to count off the doors   
numbers to 1102.  
  
But we might be too hard to find this year  
Oh Santa, I'm right here  
  
He stopped in front of apartment number 1102, thinking no one would be   
home since the gifts the mailman had seemingly left for them were still in   
front of the apartment door. He was still looking at the presents as he wished   
he could give his family a gift like any one of these colorfully wrapped large   
and small boxes.  
Then he frowned in confusion as he looked up and saw a note attached to   
the door. It had his name on it. He took the envelope taped to the door and   
opened it. Two pieces of paper fell out. One written in immaculate   
handwriting to him and one that was yellow and tattered, and said "Santa"   
scrawled in his son's messy handwriting scrawled across the front of it,   
blurred by water stains. The note to him said "Merry Christmas. The first   
months rent is paid for. The key is under the mat. The gifts are for you and   
your family and you begin work at Azar Toy Company on Monday the 31st. You   
must pay for the rent after the first month. It's yours.   
Enjoy.   
Merry Christmas to all."  
He nearly dropped from exhaustion as he ran back to his family and gave   
his wife the note and the boy his letter. They went back to apartment 1102 and   
with tears in their eyes, opened their gifts and warmed themselves in the semi-  
furnished apartment. The mother thought God had answered her prayers and was   
sure of it until she read her son's letter to Santa while he opened his gifts,   
and she was curled in her coat on the small couch. There, at the bottom of the   
letter to Santa, was a short note written in red and green pen. It said: "I   
found you. -Santa Clause"  
  
I'm right here"  
  
Duo smiled as he watched the family go into the apartment. He turned   
around and launched himself into Heero's arms, shocking Heero and nearly   
killing him with the force of his hug. "Thank you, Hee-chan." He said as Heero   
tied his arms around the boy and ran a hand through the top of Duo's bangs and   
hair. Duo looked up, a look of utter joy across his face as his tears ran   
freely. "That storeowner was right. You are a Christmas angel." He said,   
causing the so called "Perfect soldier" to actually blush before he kissed him   
soundly. The blush wasn't something a person who didn't know the stoic pilot   
very well would notice for it was so small, but to Duo it was as obvious as the   
blue of the sky.  
"It was your plan, koi. You are the angel, and a most gorgeous one at   
that." Heero replied before kissing back and no more words were needed. Well,   
except the yelp from Duo that broke the kiss and the startled curse from Heero.   
Duo cried "WE FORGOT QUATRE, TROWA, AND WUFEI'S GIFTS!" and the two blanched   
white as the snow on the rooftop around them and ran for the stairs in hopes of   
finding stores that were open this late on the day before Christmas.  
  
I'm right here  
  
________________________________________________________________________________  
  
* This is set in the year AC 205 so America is long gone and now called "Old   
America", or t least thats what im calling it ^^.  
  
  
Yeah, I know. It's sappy and OOC, but I thought It had to be written when I   
heard this song and thought of Duo's past. Hope y'all enjoyed it! Please,   
feel free to send me Q and C ^^.  
- Aurican 


End file.
